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'''Robert Ervin Howard''' (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American author who wrote pulp magazine|pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre. Howard was born and raised in Texas. He spent most of his life in the town of Cross Plains, Texas|Cross Plains with some time spent in nearby Brownwood, Texas|Brownwood. A bookish and intellectual child, he was also a fan of boxing and spent some time in his late teens bodybuilding, eventually taking up amateur boxing. From the age of nine he dreamed of becoming a writer of adventure fiction but did not have real success until he was 23. Thereafter, until his death by suicide at age 30, Howard's writings were published in a wide selection of magazines, journals, and newspapers, and he had become successful in several genres. Although a Conan novel was...
Birth nameRobert Ervin Howard
PseudonymPatrick Mac Conaire, Steve Costigan, Patrick Ervin, Patrick Howard, Sam WalserPatrick Mac Conaire was used once as the pen name for the story "Ghost in the Doorway". Steve Costigan was the name Howard used for himself in his semi-autobiography ''Post Oaks & Sand Roughs''. Patrick Ervin was an occasional pen name, especially for the Dennis Dorgan stories. Patrick Howard was a pen name used for some of Howard's poetry. Sam Walser was a pen name used for the Wild Bill Clanton stories. Because some pulp magazines used house names, especially when reprinting older works, Howard was also credited as: Mark Adam, William Decatur, R. T. Maynard, and Max Nielson. ''Ghost Stories'' used John Taverel as the author's name for "The Apparition in the Prize Ring", to make it seem to be a true story.{{Harvtxt|Lord|1976|pp=107, 131–169}}{{Harvtxt|Finn|2006|p=96}}
NicknameREH, Two-Gun Bob{{refn|group="nb"|Fans of Howard frequently refer to him by his initials, REH.#CITEREFBurke|Burke (¶ 1) His friend H. P. Lovecraft gave him the nickname "Two-Gun Bob" due to his knowledge about the Old West and Texas in particular.}}
Birth date{{birth date|1906|1|22}}
Birth placePeaster, Texas, United States
Death date{{death date and age|1936|6|11|1906|1|22}}
Death placeCross Plains, Texas, United States
EthnicityIrish American{{Harvtxt|Lord|1976|p=34}}: "Well, I am largely Gaelic, Irish, and Scotch-Irish, and Norman-Irish, and Anglo-Irish, and straight Norman, with a touch of the Dane—Dano-Irish, from a red-headed great-grandmother. Mainly I am Irish and Norman, with the Irish predominating."—Robert E. Howard, "A Touch of Trivia"
OccupationShort story writer, poet, novelist, epistolean
GenreSword and sorcery, Western fiction|westerns, Boxing|boxing stories, Historical novel|historical, Horror fiction|horror, Southern Gothic|southern gothic
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